A/N: This was inspired by a "scene" from the story Letters Like A Life by Seph's Madisen Moss. This is my take on what exactly happened between Wally and Dick.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The team had just gotten back from their mission. They had rushed Artemis to the cave's infirmary, and afterwards had assembled in the mission room. Their mission had gone wrong. An explosion occurred, which is the main reason for a majority of Artemis' injuries.

Batman has just finished debriefing them, and the remaining team members let the tension leave their bodies. It's over. They can rest. They would all be okay. They were just about to head to the infirmary to tend to their own wounds, when the Zeta-tube activated.

Recognized: Kid Flash B-03

Instantly they all tensed. How would Wally react to his girlfriend being in the infirmary? Wally had been in Central for patrol with Flash when they received the mission. They were in the middle of a bank robbery, ergo he couldn't go. They had made an agreement to meet up after the mission, but it seems that after the whole fiasco, this slipped the team's minds. More importantly, it slipped Robin's mind.

"Hey guys!" he greeted cheerfully. Robin blanched. Wally was so happy; he didn't have the right to take that happiness away from him. They were already having enough problems.

At first, Robin was happy that Wally and Artemis got together, –don't get him wrong he still is happy for them– but Wally only focuses on Artemis now, and it's getting really old. Normally he'd just ignore it, after all this was Wally's first serious relationship. But this was just too much. Wally forgot the anniversary for goodness' sake!

"Where's Artemis?" He asked while scanning the room.

Kaldur, M'gann and Conner looked at Robin warily. Somehow, they had an unspoken agreement, which decided that Robin was to tell Wally where Artemis is.

Robin had to steel himself to say this as stoically as possible. It was his only line of defense. Emotional defense, that is. Wally seemed to notice the way they were all looking at Robin, and feared the worst.

He asked again. "Where. Is. Artemis?"

Robin was shocked. He'd have never thought that Wally would speak to him that way. He sounded so dangerous, and threatening. Robin could clearly read the wave of emotions that passed through his friend's face. Fear, worry, and…Anger. Lots of anger. Despite all this however, Robin knew that there was no avoiding the question.

"She's in the infirmary. She has two broken ribs and a stab wound, but she's stable." He said mechanically. He was expecting a lot of things. He was expecting shouting. He was expecting frustration. He did not, however, expect to be tackled.

Wally had sped over, and tackled him to the ground. And of all things, he started punching him. Repeatedly. He did his best to block all the punches, but Wally was adding his speed to it –which just made the punches all the more painful. The pain wasn't just physical; it was emotional too.

He couldn't believe Wally would attack him like this. Have they grown this far apart? If they did, Dick did not like it. Not one bit.

"Where were you?! You were supposed to protect her! How could you let this happen to her! HOW!" Wally raged.

It took a few minutes, but Conner and Kaldur were finally able to pull Wally off of Robin. He was still furious though. There was no sign of any emotion on his face, except for anger.

Robin was still recovering from the shock of his best friend attacking him. Even through the shock, he had to explain to Wally what happened.

"Wally, there was a bomb! People were going to die. Artemis needed me, yes, but the civilians needed me more. Wally even Artemis told me to go! I didn't want to, but I had to. You have to understand." He pleaded.

"These are the risks of being a hero Wally, we all knew that when we started this." He concluded. His tone begged his best friend to understand.

Sadly, Wally was clouded by anger. He didn't hear the pleading tone his best friend was directing to him. He wasn't thinking straight. The words that came out of his mouth were ones he would regret for years to come.

"You're becoming what you always feared you would be. You did it, Robin, you've followed him completely" He sneered. He then shrugged off Conner and Kaldur, and headed for the infirmary.

Robin was at a loss. That hurt. Was he really turning into Batman? Wally chose those words because he knew that it would hurt the most. But, were they true? He noticed that his friends were all looking at him. M'gann moved forward to comfort him, but he stepped back.

"I still have patrol for Gotham." He mumbled out hurriedly and rushed for the Zeta-tubes. Just in time too, because as he turned, a single tear fell from his eye.

He didn't care about anything anymore. He rushed up the Batcave's stairs, ignoring Bruce's calls. He ran past Alfred, nearly knocking him over. He ran straight for his room and locked the door. Once he heard the click, he slid down the door, a sobbing mess.

Why? Why did they grow apart? Was it something he did? He just wanted his best friend back. Was what Wally said true? He didn't want it to be. He cared about his friends. He cared so much. His mind was plagued with doubt and self-loathing.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." He whispered. Bruce was pounding at his door. Normally, he'd want to be alone; he'd want to prove to Bruce that he could fix his own problems. He wanted to prove to him that he's not a kid anymore. But this wasn't any normal problem, and frankly, he just wanted his father's comfort. He stood up and opened the door.

Bruce saw his sons face clearly in the light of the hallway. His face was wet with tears, and was marred with bruises. He was angry; he was pissed. Who would cause his little bird so much pain?

"Oh Dick." He breathed out. He hasn't seen his son this broken up since he was first starting out as Robin.

"Daddy" Dick whimpered, then promptly threw himself at Bruce, sobbing with more force.

Bruce's heart broke at the pain in his son's sobs. For a while he just hugged him, rubbing circles around his back. He stopped when he finally made sense of Dick's words.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." He repeated over and over. Bruce has had enough; he gently separated Dick from his body so he was looking at him.

"What happened?" he asked gently. He hypothesized that whatever it was happened at the cave. He seemed fine during debriefing, so it must have happened after that.

Dick just shook his head in response and answered, "I didn't mean to. I had to make a choice." He cried. He sobbed all night in Bruce's arms, until he eventually fell asleep. Bruce gently put him on the bed and tucked him in. He placed a soft kiss on his forehead, and quietly left.

On his way down to the cave he let his mind wander. What could've happened for his son to have a breakdown like that? He reached the Batcomputer and played the cave's security footage.

He saw everything. He saw how his son informed Wally of his girlfriend's condition, how Wally attacked him, and how he tried to explain. He also saw how Wally mentioned Dick's greatest fear.

He knew of Dick's fear. Bruce didn't want him to be Batman, and told him as much. They talked about it, but he still fears becoming the Bat.

Of course it was Wally, he seethed. Ever since he started dating Artemis, his world only revolved around her. He doesn't stop to think about the consequences of his actions.

He was going to make sure the speedster wouldn't come near his son for some time.

When Wally finally cooled down, after he visited Artemis, he realized what exactly he told his best friend. He regretted every word he said. He could still remember the hurt look on Dick's face when he tackled him. For fuck sake, he tackled him. What kind of friend was he? And god, the way he looked when he spat out his last words. It would forever be burned in Wally's mind.

He understood completely why Dick had to do what he did. He was just angry. He went up to his room and flopped down on his bed, trying to think of ways to apologize to his best friend. Why did he have to say those words to him? He's already screwed up enough things with Dick. He fell asleep trying to figure out why he said those horrible words.

The next day, Wally traveled to Wayne Manor at around 3 in the afternoon. He knocked on the door, and waited. As always, it was Alfred who answered the door. He saw Wally and –don't ask Wally how he did it because he didn't know how either– frowned with his eyes.

"Master Wallace." He acknowledged stiffly. "What a surprise." He finished coldly. That was very bad for him. Alfred was never cold to anyone, let alone him.

'Um…is Dick here?" He asked feebly.

Alfred had been informed last night of what happened between the red head, and his younger charge. He was not happy about it. He heard the young boy's cries from his quarters, and his heart broke. His wails were full of pain, and sorrow. He never wanted to hear such an awful sound ever again.

"Master Dick, I'm afraid, is at mathlete practice this afternoon. He is not here." He said with the same coldness to his voice. He gave the young speedster such a disappointed look, that Wally had to momentarily look away.

"Oh." he said when he was finally able to look at Alfred again. "I…guess I'll just come back next time" he said disappointed.

He tried again for a few more days. Bruce even answered the door a couple of times. But, there was always something keeping Dick away. Every single time, Alfred or Bruce would give him a disappointed stare, and he knew that they knew about what happened in the cave.

Great.

It took a week for Robin to come back the mountain, by that time Robin had decided to make sure at least one of is teammates were with him at all times. He could avoid confrontation that way.

Robin entered the kitchen, only to be greeted by M'gann's relieved hug.

"Oh Robin, we were so worried." She informed him. Robin was touched that she was so concerned.

"Don't worry Miss M I'm fine." He soothed the Martian girl. He didn't want his team to worry about him; he didn't deserve it.

When Wally arrived at the cave, he was ecstatic to see that Robin was there too. His happiness went away however, when he realized that Robin was using their teammates to avoid him.

The first time it happened, he was confused. He was about to say something, when Robin and Kaldur abruptly stood up.

"Kaldur I need to discuss the new strategies with you." Robin started. Kaldur nodded his head, and the two walked out of the room.

He didn't see them for another hour after that. The second time it happened, he figured out what Robin had planned.

Conner took Wolf out for a walk, and Kaldur had returned to Atlantis. Artemis was still at home recovering, which left the bird, the Martian, and the speedster, alone in the cave.

They were all just sitting in the living room, watching the news. M'gann was the one who broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Don't you boys want to play some video games?" she suggested. She missed seeing the two goof off. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time they just had fun together.

Wally wanted to answer 'yes' because this could be his chance to apologize. Robin, however, beat him to it.

"Sorry. I have to go file a report on Poison Ivy. Maybe later." With that Robin retreated to his room, and didn't come out until dinner.

It was on the third time, that he realized how severely he had hurt Robin.

He, Conner and Robin were the only people in the cave. M'gann went shopping with some bumblebee friends, and was gone for the day. Artemis was doing some school project, and Kaldur had training with Aquaman. He and Robin were sitting on opposite sides of the couch, and Conner was standing behind Robin.

Suddenly Robin's comlink buzzed, and he responded "On my way Batman."

Robin turned to face the two other heroes. "Sorry guys, duty calls." He gave a two-finger salute, and departed from the cave. Wally wanted to tell him to come back, not to leave him with the clone that looked like he wanted to kill him with the look he was giving him, but he remained silent.

"You made him cry." Conner suddenly said, accusingly. At first Wally didn't get it.

"What?" he asked.

Conner's glare worsened.

"Robin" he growled. "You made him cry. He left near immediately after, but I saw the tear." He said, making Wally feel like a criminal, and in Conner's eyes, he may as well be for what he did.

"Don't you dare do that, or something similar, ever again." He sneered, then turned on his heel and stalked off.

Wally was still in shock. He had made Robin cry? Robin never cried. When he did, it was because of a very severe reason. To know that he was the reason Robin cried made him sick to his stomach.

He dropped his head in his hands and sighed. What had he done? He was a terrible friend. He didn't know what to do anymore. Wally couldn't handle the stress, so he just pushed it to the back of his mind. Dick was going to be okay, right? He had everyone there to comfort him. How could he not be okay?

It would get better tomorrow. His 'tomorrow' had turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months turned into years. But it didn't matter. Not anymore.

Dick was okay…right?